BHUBANESWAR: Caretaker chief minister Naveen Patnaik defended his close aide VK Pandian on Saturday, amid the criticism directed at BJD’s chief election strategist for the party’s recent electoral setback. Naveen expressed his disappointment and deemed the criticism directed towards Pandian regrettable.
Amid the internal turmoil in BJD following the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, Naveen said, “It has come to my notice, there has been some criticism of Mr Pandian.This is unfortunate.”
In its first defeat since BJD was formed, the party got 51 of the 147 assembly seats and none of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Naveen himself lost one of the two assembly seats he had contested from.
He pointed out that Pandian did excellent work as an officer in many fields in the last 10 years, helping the govt manage two cyclones and the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
After this, Naveen said Pandian retired from the bureaucracy and joined his party and contributed largely by doing excellent work. “He is a person of integrity and honesty and should be remembered for all that,” Naveen said. Naveen clarified again that Pandian is not his successor.
“I repeat that the people of Odisha will decide on my successor,” he said. “After Pandian joined the party, he has not held any post. He didn’t fight in the elections from any constituency,” he said.
The BJD chief said there have been some questions on his health and asserted, “I want to say here, quite categorically, that my health has always been fine and continues to be so.”
On BJD’s poll defeat, Naveen said it is in the people’s hands.
“In a democracy, you know, you either win or you lose. So having been defeated after a long time, we must always take the verdict of the people gracefully,” he said.
Naveen said he has always said the 4.5 crore people of Odisha are his family, adding, “I will continue to serve them in whichever way I can.”
Amid the internal turmoil in BJD following the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, Naveen said, “It has come to my notice, there has been some criticism of Mr Pandian.This is unfortunate.”
In its first defeat since BJD was formed, the party got 51 of the 147 assembly seats and none of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Naveen himself lost one of the two assembly seats he had contested from.
He pointed out that Pandian did excellent work as an officer in many fields in the last 10 years, helping the govt manage two cyclones and the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
After this, Naveen said Pandian retired from the bureaucracy and joined his party and contributed largely by doing excellent work. “He is a person of integrity and honesty and should be remembered for all that,” Naveen said. Naveen clarified again that Pandian is not his successor.
“I repeat that the people of Odisha will decide on my successor,” he said. “After Pandian joined the party, he has not held any post. He didn’t fight in the elections from any constituency,” he said.
The BJD chief said there have been some questions on his health and asserted, “I want to say here, quite categorically, that my health has always been fine and continues to be so.”
On BJD’s poll defeat, Naveen said it is in the people’s hands.
“In a democracy, you know, you either win or you lose. So having been defeated after a long time, we must always take the verdict of the people gracefully,” he said.
Naveen said he has always said the 4.5 crore people of Odisha are his family, adding, “I will continue to serve them in whichever way I can.”